Drug discovery screening has historically used simple well-based read-outs in order to handle a high throughput of lead compounds. However, a given assay currently provides only the information that a drug affects some of the cellular processes that result in the response measured; the exact nature of the target for the drug is not indicated. A cell-based assay is a model system designed to identify compounds that interact with a selected molecular target in a specific manner. Cell-based assays are robust in that they approximate physiological conditions, and they can yield highly complex information. This requires sophisticated image analysis tools and streamlined data handling. Multi-parameter cell assays, where a response is measured by multiplexed reporter molecules, as well as morphological criteria, have been limited by the labor-intensive nature of imaging and analyzing subcellular details. The power of obtaining more complex information earlier in the screening process demands effective solutions to this bottleneck.
Dissecting the steps in cellular pathways is important, because multiple pathways converge and diverge to provide redundancy (backup in case of cellular dysregulation) and as a coordinated response. Whereas a given drug may result in, e.g., the secretion of a cytokine (such as Interleukin 2 (IL-2) measured as a single parameter response in a well plate) the researcher does not know which signaling pathway was utilized, or what other cellular responses were initiated. If the signaling pathway used also led to cell death, the efficacy of the candidate drug would be compromised and would fail in costly and controversial animal testing. Multiplexed cellular responses need to be investigated to eliminate this kind of false positive lead in drug discovery.
The complexity of real cell responses also leads to heterogeneity between cells, even in a cloned cell line, depending on other factors such as cell cycle progression. Thus, a lead which acts on a cellular process which is part of DNA synthesis would elicit a response only in those cells which were in S phase at the time the drug was added. In the clinical situation, continuous infusion can ensure all cells are treated, and so the lead is a viable candidate. If an average response from all the cells in a well is measured, it may fall below the threshold for detection and result in a false negative: an effective drug is overlooked.
Pharmaceutical companies continually demand faster analysis of screening tests. Automation has addressed the need to increase data acquisition, but there remain stringent requirements for accuracy, specificity and sensitivity. Preliminary data indicates that the higher the information content of the assay read-out, the less variability there is between individual cells in a responding population Thus, the total number of cells needed to attain the confidence level required by the experiment is decreased, resulting in increased throughput. More accurate analysis results in better dose response information. Higher quality data results in better data mining and identification of drugs with significant clinical impact.
Automated quantitative analysis of multiplexed fluorescent reporters in a population of intact cells at subcellular resolution is known. Accurate fluorescence quantification is made possible by technological advances owned by Q3DM, the assignee of this application, and the rapid processing of this complex image data in turn depends on unique computational processes developed by Q3DM. High throughput microscopy has only recently become possible with new technological advances in autofocus, lamp stabilization, image segmentation and data management (e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,548,661, 5,790,692, 5,790,710, 5,856,665, 5,932,872, 5,995,143, and U.S. patent applications Ser. Nos. 09/703,455 and 09/766,390). Accurate, high-speed autofocus has enabled fully automated “walk-away” scanning of arbitrarily large scan areas. Quantification is dramatically improved by controlling the intensity of illumination, and is dependent on accurate autofocus. Advances in image segmentation make detection of both dimly and brightly stained cells simple, so that heterogeneous cell populations can be assayed with statistically meaningful results. Finally, rapid streaming of high information content data depends on efficient image data format and caching. Together, these technological advances enable retrieval of high quality, image-based experimental results from multiplexed cell based assays.